To the words: “See that you do not do your alms before men” (Matthew 6:1)

1. Reasonable and experienced farmers, surrounding their plantings with the most careful care, first of all force the plants themselves to grow, and then skillfully remove from them all the growths that choke them. The legislator Moses did the same thing: first he planted monotheism in the hearts of people, and then sought to eradicate the inclination towards polytheism in people. How did he instill monotheism? Listen to what he says: “Fear the Lord your God, and serve Him alone” (Deuteronomy 6:13, 10:20), and again: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord” (Deuteronomy 6:4). But this is how he cut down the weeds of polytheism: “Do not make molten gods for yourselves” and do not bow down to strange gods: “I am the Lord your God” (Lev. 19:4; Exod. 34:17). Our God and Savior himself is doing something similar to this today. In fact, after He recently planted the good olive tree of mercy in our souls and crowned its fruit, that is, the merciful, and blessed them, saying: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy” (Matthew 5:7), today, as it should be, He cuts and destroys in us all vain things that could harm mercy. Yesterday, equally inciting everyone to charity, He taught the poor - using the example of the poor widow from Zarephath of Sidon - so that poverty would not serve as an excuse for inhumanity, and on the other hand, He taught them - by the example of the poor widow of the Gospel, who put two mites into the church treasury - so that they would zealously collect the wealth of alms; and those whose wealth is built on the waves of the sea, He curbed, inspiring them to give better to the poor than to the sea, and to those who work on land for their well-being, He showed how to prevent need with good will and how, before need, it is better to honor God than the thief. Thus, having equally encouraged everyone to give alms and knowing that everyone is inclined to accept praise, like a flowering tree inclined towards mercy: “I am like a green olive tree in the house of God” (Ps. 51:10), the Lord immediately suppresses the vanity that accompanies almsgiving. How exactly? “Be careful not to do your alms in front of people so that they can see you” (Matthew 6:1). I make a reservation that I do not choose this reading on purpose: it is precisely what follows further according to the established order of readings. “Be careful not to do your alms in front of people so that they can see you”; otherwise you will not receive the reward. Giving alms for show destroys the reward, and the one who does this deprives himself of future goodness. No other passion is as harmful to the soul as the passion of vanity. After all, a person becomes infected with this disease precisely when he has already made great progress in fulfilling the commandments. That is why the Savior hastens to cut this passion in us by the roots, teaching us to give alms in secret. Of course, you will say: what? In this case, you shouldn’t give alms at all? Isn’t it possible, when giving to the poor, or bringing it to priests, or putting it in a church mug, to go unnoticed? After all, in this way you can completely shake a person’s disposition to give alms in general? But here I wish to benefit the souls of my friends and brothers, to deliver them from every illness by the grace of the Lord and God and our Savior Jesus Christ and to lead to the correction of the usual way of doing this matter. Of course, here we are talking primarily about the disposition of the soul of those who give alms, as is especially evident from the words he added: “When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do” (Matthew 6:2); this does not mean that they had trumpets, but that they only had the guise of alms, while the soul took up arms against people and appeared in front of them. It was not for the sake of God that they gave alms, hoping for mercy from him and receiving the promised reward a hundredfold, but they gave in order to enjoy temporary glory before people. They are no better than those who compete in spectacles and, because of empty glory, squander their property, not for the sake of the useful fruit of the soul, but for the sake of empty human praise. And how often this praise turns into insult and those who have spent a lot are humiliated! Look how much money they spend at horse racing, and when they have spent a lot, then they especially console the thin and lost people. After all, the weakness of horses there is immediately transferred to people: the horse goes astray, and the ambitious suffers dishonor; it turns out that the dumb horse fell, and the rational man fell with him. Often these people say with tears: why did I ruin my fortune in vain? He endured so much labor and so many punishments, and as a result he lost his property in order to endure humiliation from all sorts of rabble. Oh, how many poor people could be enriched by this money thrown away! How many fallen ones would they help rise to their feet! But no: like a stream, this vain generosity out of vanity is unstoppable, and the reproaches of foolish people, in turn, grow into a whole river. Some despise and destroy their own souls, others ruin their homes because of horses. 2. But let them, out of empty vanity and competition, waste money and suffer reproach. And we must learn how to arrange our lives in accordance with piety, how to spend property in order to please God, and how through these earthly blessings we can gain heavenly blessings for ourselves. Of course, Christ does not forbid you to give alms, but teaches you how to do it: “Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” (Matthew 6:3). Here, of course, He did not mean hands, but figuratively expressed that your bad mind should not know what your good will is doing, so that it cannot turn you away from good. Human thoughts, according to divine testimony, are directed towards evil. Therefore, the Savior says: let this desire be so strong in you that you yourself do not know. For what? So that your Father, who sees in secret your kind, diligent readiness to give to the poor, loves you and rewards you openly. For those who give alms, He has instituted a great and brilliant spectacle, and whatever the merciful may desire is granted to them in the highest degree. Even if thousands of people see you giving alms, just do not pay attention to them and do not desire temporary glory from them; and if you want, he says, to have spectators of what you do, then there are angels and archangels, and the Creator and Lord of all things. If you want to have people as witnesses to your actions and perform alms in front of them, then you will have a hundred or a thousand spectators approving of you. If you try to do it secretly from those who praise in this life, and, moreover, so secretly that at least some glorified you, not to accept these praises with pleasure and not to be exalted by them, but to withdraw from them and reject them, then on that terrible day in the face of the entire universe you will receive a crown of glory. If you do alms for God and for the sake of the wealth that He has collected there for you, and not for the sake of temporary glory, then God, accepting, as if into his own bosom, your deeds of mercy, in the presence of all people, from Adam to the end of the century, in the presence of all angels (since then thousands and myriads of angels will be present), with His most pure hands will call you with the words: “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world" (Matthew 25:34). Come here, I accepted your labors, I was your dependent. When you stretched out your hands to the poor, I opened My bosom; When you gave your bread to the poor, I was satisfied through his belly. “For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink” (Matthew 25:35). For this, this is the joy you will be awarded, dear ones! If you gave alms for show in front of people, then you will receive a reward from them. After all, it seems that this is so clear: if you want to do it for show, then try to do it for show before God: He has more power to crown, and will bring angels to the spectacle. And who is so unfortunate that, knowing that the king wants to come to see his exploits, he would instead prefer to spread his spectacle in front of a crowd of ragamuffins and expect a reward from them? There are no such people among Christians: let them not be! Everything that we Christians do, we all do with Christ before our eyes and calling on His name. After all, He in His Gospel showed us the path of salvation, so that we, doing all alms and practicing every virtue, would do all this in His name and with His help. So, if the martyrs gave up their bodies to the lawless, they gave them over to the One who said: “And do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but fear Him more who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna” (Matthew 10:28). Then, whether some built churches or hotels for the whole universe, they did it for the sake of the One who said: “I was a stranger, and you took Me in” (Matthew 25:35). Whether we practice humility, we do it for His sake, since He said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Or we give bread to the poor, again we serve for His sake, remembering His words: “Whoever gives one of these little ones to drink only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple ... will not lose his reward” (Matthew 10:42). Do we visit prisons, do we visit for His sake: “I was in prison, and you came to Me”; Whether we clothe widows and orphans, we clothe Him - the One who said: “I was naked, and you clothed Me” (Matthew 25:36). In general, whether we distribute anything to the poor, He accepts it all: “just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:40); Do we endure the reproaches and ridicule of the pagans because we worship Him who was crucified by the Jews and who gave life to the universe, and we do this for His sake: “Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and slander you in every way unrighteously for My sake. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven” (Matthew 5:11–12). So, let no one think that a Christian does alms for show in front of people in order to receive a reward from them: let it not be! Having been instructed in the treasures of the gospel and established in them, we believed and, having believed, received salvation. Therefore, our sermon is borrowed from the Gospel readings. And when the Holy Gospels are read, we listen to them not casually and absent-mindedly, but attentively, cheerfully and with fear, perceiving what is proclaimed, not being embarrassed by thoughts, not sitting in body, not being entertained by conversations with neighbors, not daring to allow ourselves anything of the kind: neither rich nor poor, neither slave nor free, neither men nor women, neither superiors nor subordinates. Even the royal crown bearer himself, immediately, as soon as the reading of the Gospel begins, stands with all fear and with full attention and does not dare to cover his head with a crown, but bows it before God, who speaks through the Holy Gospel. With what thoughts exactly? I know the dignity of the One who gave me my dignity, I bow before the King who gave me my kingdom, and I stand with fear when His holy words are read, just as the authorities subordinate to me by His will stand when reading the royal manifesto. And so that the heretic does not laugh, saying that only for a while the kings feigned honor to Christ, listen to what the prophet says (depicting the present for many generations): “The kings will see and stand up; the princes will worship” Him (Isa. 49:7). So, find out and be convinced, heretic, that the kingdom of Christ our God and His grace endures forever and ever, crowning all Christians and leading them to the kingdom of heaven. Likewise, all Christians look to Him in all their actions, and we are guided by His words: “Let your light so shine before men, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). To Him be glory and power and power and worship with His only begotten Son and the all-holy and good and life-giving and all-powerful Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom and classified in the Minya edition as Spuria.